Joliette/St-Jean de Matha /St-Gabriel de Brandon quick pics/video report 19February2022

[towing]

Here is ride we did yesterday Saturday February 19, 2022



After the rain and snow we got last Thursday, we ended up with an improved snow cover everywhere in my sector. The cold which had froze back most of the slush under the foot+ of new snow on Saturday morning should have finished the job today.

We unfortunately loose an important right of access for the trail #43 just north of my home.  A smartass that was riding a sled off trail have pass directly on some young apple trees in an orchard an broke/kill some of them. Even it not happened near the trail the owner of the land was really furious/angry about what happened and call the snowmobile club to terminate the right of access he was giving farther on his land. The club had no other option to block the trail and make my village trail a dead end... we were passing there for the last 30 years. I can't blame the owner reaction that got real damage and receive nothing for letting the trail pass on his property but it is really frustrating to loose a trail link like this one for one stupid ass action that was probably even not a trail rider and will not even be impacted for the damage it cause. We all loose an access to the north from the #3 trail and I personally loose my principal way to get to the north. The trail configuration will stay like that for the rest of the season and will be really hard to re-route for the next season, don't even know if it will be possible.

So, enough for the complains, we did a short ride yesterday. Trail conditions were very powdery with limited visibility. A bit of slush on some spots especially in the fields at St-Thomas but nothing major. We started from home toward #3 trail. Even if the pics don't render it under this dark sky the scenery was magnificent, especially in the woods, which were completely white painted .

The snowmobile club had reroute the #43 on the #3 trail first to get around the blockage and farther on the local trail of St-Norbert/Ste-Élisabeth to connect back on the #43 usual path. The signs have already been installed accordingly

near Berthierville



On #3 trail the Bayonne river is still strong, barely a little wet snow when we passed

A little before St-Gabriel on the #63 trail we steered towards St-Félix de Valois and then continued via St-Jean de Matha. This section, which is less busy was 10/10. The Black River in St-Jean de Matha had not suffered from the rain either and was full winter condition.



We then rode through St-Damien de Brandon to go to St-Gabriel de Brandon for lunch. Nice conditions there too. We stopped to eat at the Cache du Lac restaurant located right next to the municipal beach parking lot on the shores of Lake Maskinongé.

A nice sport bar atmosphere restaurant with giant screens inside the dining room plus some outdoor installations in the parking lot.



We came back by #63/#3 trails with better visibility because the snow had stopped and the sun even showed up a bit in the afternoon. We had the chance to admire some winter wonder sceneries 

We were back home early around 3:00 p.m. with just over 100 miles on the dream meter.

Here a short video of how it looks...

In the end, the last rain/snow have revived the season which is going faster than we would want to. It's really time to seize all possible opportunities to ride in this beautiful full winter conditions.

Alain

[MichiganRev]

Great video and write up, thanks for taking us along.

Sad to hear about the trail closure, but I understand why the owner would close the trail. Only takes 1 to ruin it for many.

[PLAYHARD]

On 2/20/2022 at 8:56 PM, towing said:

the season which is going faster than we would want to. It's really time to seize all possible opportunities to ride in this beautiful full winter conditions

Well put!

Isnt it always the case?!